Hello 2000
by cagewench
Summary: Willow has company to help her ring in the New Year


Disclaimer.... I do not own nor do I claim to own any of these characters. That admirable right belongs to Joss Whedon. So this is just for pleasure, not for profit.

Hello 2000 is the first fanfic I've ever written and it is dedicated to SailorMoon 1980 who inspired me with "Slay Ride" to try my hand at fanfic writing.

Note: any text like this indicates Willow writing in her diary

Distribution: Ask and ye shall receive ;

Feedback: I'd love some… catalysts@home.com

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Hello 2000

By C.D. Hackett

Here it is. The dawn of the new Millennium and everyone has something to do except for me. No good-ole RELIABLE Willow gets to stay in and read up on spells and not do anything. I'm really, kinda, not-so, honestly, happy that Xander and Anya have that "thing" with each other that will be keeping them in tonight. And Buffy's on patrol with Riley so who knows how much they'll accomplish and Giles and his friend, Olivia are staying in to do research but everyone told me that I wasn't needed tonight and that I should just go and party and greet the new year in my highest spirits. How can I do that? Oz hasn't even contacted me once, I guess, maybe, he didn't love me "in that way" after all... 

There was a sudden knock at the door and someone entered, before she had the chance to say, "Come in."

Spike walked over to the bed and eyed Willow appraisingly. "Nice outfit, Red. I never seen you wear leather before."

Willow flushed, almost guiltily. "I bought this outfit to, you know, get Oz's attention back from that skanky she-wolf, but it didn't work. And I couldn't return it because I got it on sale and it would be wrong to wear it once and return it and so I'm... babbling now... OK, stopping now. Why are you here, Spike?"

"Do you honestly think I want to listen to the librarian shag his little friend while I was tied up in the basement? I think not. Besides, Giles won't buy me anymore Weetabix and I thought maybe you'd have some lying around." He gave her his most sincere look.

Willow got up and went to look for munchies. "We've got M&M's, peanut butter, some Nutella, some plain chips and some TrailMix but no Weetabix. Oh, and uh... no blood."

She walked back to her bed where Spike was sprawled out, completely engrossed in reading.

"My diary!" Angrily, Willow snatched it from his hands, and, rather uncharacteristically, smacked him with it.

"This is my private property. You have no right to read it and if you can't behave yourself then you'll just have to," she motioned towards the door, "leave."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her down to sit on the bed, "I'm sorry, Red. Calm down. You were up and moving around and it made me want to try to bite you so I stopped myself from trying and just picked up the book to distract myself. Honest."

Willow raised her warm eyes to his and squeaked, "Really?"

"Of course, really. Did you think I was lying that day when I told you that I'd thought about biting you? Because you are very bitable. Much more than Buffy would be. And I figured that you'd be here and I thought I would come over and help you greet the Millennium."

"You're just hoping there's a Y2K glitch in the thing that makes you unable to hurt--"

Her eyes grew wide and she began to back away, "Oh, I am so glad that the whole 'doing my will' spell is broken, but I'm not right, am I?"

"Quite the thought, Pet. But I'll tell you the truth. I was feeling lonely and I thought you might be feeling the same and so here I am. If you'll have me."

"Geez, if you're not careful, I'm going to start thinking that you got your soul back."

"What use would I have for my soul, after all these years? It would make me all the more Love's bitch, it would."

"Well, since you're here and I was feeling pretty lonely, we can pig out on munchies and watch 'Singing in the Rain' on TV."

"As long as I get to eat the TrailMix and I brought along some blood from Giles'. Have you got a bowl I could put it in and mush it around a little?"

Turning a whiter shade of pale than normal, Willow looked for a bowl that she wouldn't mind never using again.

"Gimme a sec, and I'll find one."

As she searched, Spike found his mind wandering back to her diary. He'd read quite a lot in those minutes she'd been in the kitchenette.

In that moment, when he had me pinned and was going to bite me, after I screamed, I stopped being afraid and I wondered if this was how it was meant to be. If I would rise as a VampireWitch, still retaining my soul. And then I wondered if I could give Spike his back. After all, if he was going to make me, I'd be his-- right? And part of me, a tiny little part of me, was kind of disappointed when it didn't happen.

I mean, I don't want to be dead or anything, but if I had to be, I'd want it to be like that. Me and Spike. With souls and then I could wear some really funky outfits but not have to be skanky and kinda gay and all.

Spike had memorized that section of her diary. What he was going to do about it, he did not know. But something, would be done.

"Back. Here you go." She handed him a bowl with tiny frogs painted on it and it was partially filled with TrailMix, "Xander gave me this bowl once as a joke. He thought it would help me get over my fear of frogs, but it didn't."

"Red, you are a strange little witch. Here you are, hanging out with a vampire and you're afraid of Kermit the Frog." Spike shook his head in amusement, "You're an odd one, all right. But so am I."

So they ate, and laughed and teased each other and watched "Singing in the Rain." Spike went into the kitchen and made Willow some hot chocolate and they forgot about being from two different worlds and enjoyed their time together just like anybody else would.

Willow hiccuped and smiled when Spike refilled her mug with hot chocolate. "Thank you. This is really good. You make the best hot chocolate I've ever had."

Spike smiled, "Old family recipe, Pet. Glad you like it. Now what were you just going on about?"

"I want to know what you were like before you were all 'Grr' and stuff. I mean, did you have a girlfriend and a job or what were you doing?"

He sighed, "I'll make you a deal. You tell me all about your life while you were growing up and then I'll tell you my story. And flip the channel. That damn ball's gonna drop in awhile and I'd like to see it."

Willow stifled a giggle about "dropping balls" and started to tell Spike about her childhood, and her parents and Xander. About how her greatest friends were often still her books. About how she always got picked last for sports at school. About how meeting Buffy and becoming an evil fighter had changed her so much.

As Willow talked, Spike obligingly kept her mug filled and began to massage her shoulders as she continued to speak, her words coming more slowly and slurred as time passed. 

In the midst of the countdown, Willow turned towards Spike with a question, "I feel drunk. Am I drunk, Spike?"

Before he could reply, it was midnight. On the TV and outside in Sunnydale, he could hear the cries of "Happy New Year."

This was the time. He grabbed Willow gently and lowered his face to hers. Kissing her. Kissing her as she'd never been kissed before. His tongue teasing hers into action. Her lips so warm and soft against his coldness.

Unwillingly, he stopped and pulled away. Her eyes stayed innocently closed a moment longer. Then they opened and what he saw in them was beautiful.

"Not only am I drunk, but I'm dreaming, right?"

"No, Pet. It's not a dream, though I confess to putting a little something extra into the hot chocolate. But, I have to go. You're too tempting and I feel bad for getting you sloshed."

"But," he stopped her protest with another kiss and she dreamily sank back against the pillows.

Spike looked at Willow, so beautiful and infused with life and cursed himself.

"Bugger it! Why do I have to have morals NOW?"

He smoothed her hair and realized that she'd passed out. So, before he left, he cleaned up the food and decided to take the bowl with him, justifying that it was OK since she was afraid of frogs anyways.

The next morning, Willow awoke and was confused. She remembered that Spike had been by and she remembered boring him to death, if he hadn't already been dead, with the story of her life.

She remembered the kissing. Her face flushed and she gently touched her lips with her fingertips in wonderment.

After a moment, she reached for her diary and when Buffy came in from patrol, Willow was writing furiously.

Oh my Goddess! You won't believe what happened last night. I promise to re-cap it later in pain-staking detail, but the big news is that Spike showed up here and we hung out and he got me a little tipsy and he KISSED me. And I don't mean some random kiss but just a KISS that was like nothing I've ever experienced before. Way more passionate than the way he and Buff were kissing when they were under my mixed up spell. Wow...

"Hey Will. Earth calling Willow. Come in."

"Oh, hey Buffy. How did the Slayage with Riley go?"

"It was kinda strange, you know. It's a situation that I never thought would be. Know what I mean?"

Willow flushed, "Oh yeah. I most certainly do to know what you mean, Buff. But you need sleep and I need to get up, because I have a lot of research to do today."

Buffy looked at her with concern, "What kind of research?"

"No worries. Only Wicca-type stuff. I'm gonna clean up and go call Tara and see if she can help me. So, I'll catch you later."

"But don't you want to hear about Riley for your vicarious smoochies, Will?"

She turned a thousand shades of red in about two seconds, "Maybe later, Buff. See ya."

Willow grabbed her Snoopy towel and some toiletries and headed for the ladies shower.

Buffy sat there, puzzled for a moment. Too puzzled to go to sleep right away and then she decided to phone Xander.

"Who is it?" Xander growled, still half-asleep.

"Xand, it's me. Will was acting all weird this morning, like she was in love or something. You don't think there's anything going on with her and that Tara girl, do you?"

"Only in my dreams, Buffster. Only in my dreams. Speaking of which, can I get back to them now?"

Buffy hung up the phone and addressed the empty room.

"What's going on here? I'm getting the wiggins."

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The End


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